Vancouver police are investigating the gunpoint sexual assault of a transgendered woman in the West End early Saturday.
The news comes the same day police announced that the man convicted of killing transgendered sex worker Shelby Tom breached his parole conditions and vanished.
But, says Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Cst Lindsay Houghton, “there’s absolutely no indication” Tom’s killer, Jatin Patel, was involved.
Houghton says police were called to an apartment in the 1300-block of Burnaby St about 4am Saturday where they found the victim of the assault.
“Other than the sexual assault, the victim wasn’t injured,” Houghton says. “The gun wasn’t fired.”
Houghton says the department’s hate crime unit was informed of the incident immediately and will be conducting a parallel investigation.
Houghton says more information will be released later this week once officers have interviewed the victim who spent most of the weekend in hospital.
“We’re giving the victim time to recover from the trauma,” Houghton says.
The latest assault comes two weeks after police issued a safety warning to the public after two men met on a chat line.
Police allege that when Anthony Paul McDonald, 29 arrived at the 52-year-old victim’s home, he sucker-punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground. He then allegedly tied him to a chair and stole his wallet, car keys and car.
But, says Houghton, there’s no indication the latest incident involved a chatline meeting.
But, he added, investigating officers will be looking for commonalities with past assault cases.
Why you can trust Xtra
